Real Estate

April 04, 2024
Ex-NY Court Atty Found Guilty Of Official Misconduct

A New York state jury on Thursday found a former appeals court attorney guilty of official misconduct for using her position to provide a legal opinion that helped her husband and his law firm secure a $55,000 payment from a new client.
April 04, 2024
Real Estate Fraudster Wins 3rd Circ. Bid To Testify

The real estate agent who helped ex-NFL player Irving Fryar in a scheme to defraud several banks out of $1 million in mortgages was wrongly denied the ability to testify on his own behalf at a hearing over alleged violations of his supervised release, the Third Circuit ruled in a precedential opinion Thursday.
April 04, 2024
MLB's Athletics To Play In Sacramento Before Move To Vegas

The Oakland Athletics will play the 2025 to 2027 seasons in Sacramento's 14,000-capacity minor-league ballpark while their planned stadium in Las Vegas is built, the franchise and Major League Baseball announced Thursday morning, officially making this season the team's last in Oakland after 57 years.
April 04, 2024
Md. Lessee Owes Tax On Gov't Property, Appeals Court Says

A lessee of government property in Maryland that was sublet to other users was correctly denied a partial property tax abatement, the state appeals court has said, even though some subtenants were government entities.
April 04, 2024
MV Realty Abusing Ch. 11 Process, Bankruptcy Court Told

State prosecutors, federal agencies and consumer advocates have told a Florida bankruptcy judge that MV Realty is using the Chapter 11 process to avoid enforcement and enshrine a set of predatory agreements designed to extract millions in junk fees from homeowners over the next 40 years.
April 04, 2024
Surfside, Fla., Condo Collapse Victims To Get Additional $4.8M

A Florida judge signed off Thursday on an additional $4.8 million distribution to the victims of the deadly collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium after the receiver overseeing the defunct condominium association told the court the association had fewer financial obligations and tax liabilities than expected.
April 04, 2024
Project Owners Eager To Sell Energy Tax Credits, Report Says

Project owners are pursuing new financing strategies that would support the early sale of their clean energy tax credits as more projects in their initial development stage this year seek to capitalize on the incentives as early as possible, a report released Thursday said.
April 03, 2024
Nationstar Adds 'Junk Fee' For Loan Payoff Quote, Suit Says

A proposed class hit Nationstar Mortgage LLC with a suit alleging the mortgage servicing firm illegally charges homeowners a "junk fee" for written payoff quotes in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
April 03, 2024
Mortgage Co. Targeted In News Report Hit With RICO Suit

United Wholesale Mortgage LLC, its parent company and its CEO were hit with a proposed class action Tuesday in Michigan federal court accusing them of scheming with mortgage brokers to steer borrowers into more expensive loans the same day that Hunterbrook Media, a new journalism and hedge fund outfit, published its first investigative piece focused on the company.
April 03, 2024
Chubby Checker Boyhood Home To Sell In Ponzi Receivership

The childhood home of acclaimed '60s rock-and-roller Chubby Checker will get a new owner after a Texas federal court found that a sale is in the best interest of a receivership in a $185 million alleged Ponzi scheme involving two precious metals dealers who swindled senior citizens.
April 03, 2024
NY Bank, Investors Want Derivative Suits Merged, Paused

New York Community Bancorp Inc. and several of its investors asked a New York federal judge to consolidate and stay the investors' derivative shareholder suits against the bank.
April 03, 2024
Judge Wary Of Atty's Bid To Cut Sentence For Hiding Assets

A Seventh Circuit judge appeared skeptical Wednesday of an Illinois lawyer's contention that she should not have received an abuse-of-trust sentencing enhancement for helping her brother conceal more than $350,000 in bankruptcy assets, noting she deposited them in her attorney trust account and attempted to assert attorney-client privilege to hide her conduct from the trustee.
April 03, 2024
Broker Says Developer Won't Pay Finder's Fee On $24M Loan

A South Carolina real estate developer has failed to fork over a finder's fee to his broker on more than $24 million in financing for a mixed-use project on the coast of North Carolina, according to a newly filed federal complaint.
April 03, 2024
US Bank Beats $100M Suit Over Role As CDO Trustee

A New York federal judge has freed U.S. Bank from a more than $100 million conflict-of-interest lawsuit brought by a group of mortgage-backed CDOs, which accused the bank of obstructing their efforts to sue over underlying mortgage bond losses tied to the 2008 financial crisis.
April 03, 2024
Reba McEntire's Ex-Hubby Loses Bid To Cancel Farm Name TM

The ex-husband of country star Reba McEntire has lost a bid to cancel the trademark "Starstruck Farm" after the man who bought the property kept the name, with a Tennessee federal judge finding that McEntire's former husband, Narvel Blackstock, has not met his burden regarding likelihood of confusion or bad faith to profit off the name.
April 03, 2024
5th Circ. Unsure Miners Can Escape Pecan Farm Flood Verdict

Fifth Circuit judges on Wednesday suggested that the owner of an open gravel mine on the bank of the Colorado River could have a tough time in its bid to avoid responsibility for devastating flooding at a pecan farm across the river.
April 03, 2024
Colo. Judge Rejects Landlord's Bid To Toss Unfair Fee Suit

A Colorado state judge rejected a property management company's bid to toss a class action accusing it of charging unfair rental application fees, writing in an order that a Denver renter has done enough to allege the company violated a 2019 law aimed at protecting renters from inflated charges.
April 03, 2024
5 Hotel Cos. Defeat Trafficking Claims, 2 Others Settle

An Ohio federal judge gave five hospitality companies early wins against a sex trafficking survivor's liability claims and dismissed two others following undisclosed settlement agreements, bringing an end to the survivor's suit alleging the companies should have seen warning signs and prevented what happened to her.
April 03, 2024
Forchelli Appoints Environmental Practice Chair

Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP has announced the hiring of a partner with experience in organizations such as Miller Environmental Group Inc. and New York American Water to chair its environmental practice group.
April 03, 2024
San Francisco Leaders Back Ax Of Public Camping Ban

A coalition of San Francisco stakeholders has accused the city and California of overstepping their bounds in an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an Oregon city's prohibition on camping in public spaces, discounting their "alarmist claims" that the ruling rendered jurisdictions powerless.
April 03, 2024
Skanska Inks $1.4B Contract To Replace Seattle Bridge

Skanska and Washington's Department of Transportation closed a $1.4 billion bridge replacement contract that aims to update Seattle's Portage Bay Bridge so that it's up to "current seismic resiliency standards," the construction and development company announced.
April 02, 2024
Gas Tycoon Owes $100M To UBS, Lenders After Trial Loss

Energy titan Charif Souki owes more than $100 million to lenders, including a fund managed by a UBS division, a U.S. bankruptcy judge has ruled, rejecting Souki's claims that his lenders recklessly sold off collateral posted for the loan, including a luxury yacht, a Colorado ranch and shares of his liquefied natural gas export business Tellurian Inc.
April 02, 2024
Connecticut Estate Withdraws Deadly Airbnb Blast Claims

The estate of a woman who died two years ago after the stove in an Airbnb property in Jamaica erupted into a fiery blast has withdrawn a Connecticut lawsuit against both the online service and the Texas-based owner of the retreat, with the maneuver coming just days after the owner challenged jurisdiction in the state.
April 02, 2024
MV Realty Files Ch. 11 Plan Amid Growing Calls To Toss Case

MV Realty plans to reorganize in Florida bankruptcy court by firing its brokers and collecting millions in fees from about 34,000 U.S. homeowners over the next 40 years, even as more than a dozen states backed the U.S. Trustee's view that the case is a stall tactic against prosecutors.
April 02, 2024
Ex-NY Court Atty Says DA Has No Evidence Of Corruption

A former appeals court attorney told a Manhattan jury Tuesday that the district attorney can't back up charges that she intended to benefit her husband when she gave a "basic, procedural fact" about the status of a case to his client.

Expert Analysis

Environmental Justice: A 2023 Recap And 2024 Forecast

A 2023 executive order directing each federal agency to make environmental justice part of its mission, as well as the many lawsuits and enforcement actions last year, demonstrates that EJ will increasingly surface in all areas of law and regulation, from technically challenging to seemingly ordinary permitting and construction matters, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
The Year Ahead In Foreign Investment And National Security

In 2024, expect the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, already at the forefront of addressing national security threats, to increase monitoring and enforcement related to outbound investment, focus on supply chain resilience in nondefense sectors, and heighten oversight of agricultural transactions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.
Sale-Leasebacks May Provide A Safe Financing Alternative

Amid rising interest rates and unpredictable market conditions, sale-leasebacks can be a useful investment option for both buyers and sellers, though their potential drawbacks demand careful consideration, says Chanel Di Blasi at Crosbie Gliner.
5 Recent Developments Family Offices Are Watching In 2024

Although family offices have long been exempt from many of the more onerous regulations and reporting requirements governing U.S. investment advisers and asset managers, recent amendments to federal rules will have an impact on how family offices invest and operate in 2024, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
A Challenging CRE Environment Holds Opportunities In 2024

As the commercial real estate market faces reduced occupancy levels and rising financing costs, the new landscape will be favorable to those who can leverage capital, strategic vision and expertise to meet challenges like taking on distressed properties and converting office space to residential use, say Nesa Amamoo and Vered Rabia at Skadden.
Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.
5 Most Notable Class Action Standing Cases Of 2023

Key appellate class action decisions this past year continued the trend of a more demanding approach to the threshold issue of standing during each phase of litigation, say attorneys at MoFo.
Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities

Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.
A Difficult Year For CRE, But Future May Be Brighter

2023 was a challenging year for the commercial real estate industry, marked by significant uncertainty, but market pressure and signs of rising interest rates provide some reasons to be cautiously optimistic for the year ahead as pandemic headwinds and gridlock fade away, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023

Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.
3 Developments That Will Affect Hospitality Companies In 2024

As the hospitality industry continues its post-pandemic recovery, it faces both challenges and opportunities to thrive in 2024, including navigating new labor rules, developing branded residential living spaces and cautiously embracing artificial intelligence, says Lauren Stewart at Sheppard Mullin.
What WeWork's Ch. 11 Filing Means For Landlords

WeWork’s recent Chapter 11 filing in New Jersey has the potential to be one of the most consequential cases in the real estate industry in many years, and presents a number of issues for landlords, including unexpired leases, assumption, assignment and more, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.